The constitutional prohibition to appoint any member of the legislature to an office created during the time for which he had been elected, did not exclude men of the most distinguished abilities from the first congress.

Impelled by an anxious solicitude respecting the first measures of the government, its zealous friends had pressed into its service: and, in both branches of the legislature, men were found who possessed the fairest claims to the public confidence.
From the duties attached to his office, the Vice President of the United States, and President of the senate, though not a member of the legislature, was classed, in the public mind, with that department not less than with the executive.

Elected by the whole people of America in common with the President, he could not fail to be taken from the most distinguished citizens, and to add to the dignity of the body over which he presided.
Mr.John Adams was one of the earliest and most ardent patriots of the revolution.

Bred to the bar, he had necessarily studied the constitution of his country, and was among the most determined asserters of its rights.

Active in guiding that high spirit which animated all New England, he became a member of the congress of 1774, and was among the first who dared to avow sentiments in favour of independence.